“About a year ago, give or take a few months, I woke up from a drunken bender in the alley by the bar, lying in a pile of my own puke while some punk ass teenagers kicked the shit out of me.” I hear Jenna gasp, but I go on. “Guess they saw me passed out and took advantage. They stole my wallet, the keys to my truck, and left me with both eyes swollen and black and three cracked ribs—not to mention all the other bruises and cuts I sustained.”
Slowly lifting her head away from my chest, Jenna turns to look at me as a tear slips down her cheek.
“Come on, baby, don’t cry,” I tell her as I wipe the tear away with the pad of my thumb. “I’m here. I’m okay.”
“But you weren’t, Cole,” she tells me, and another tear slips from her eye. “You were far from being okay. And to make things worse, you were alone.”
“Trust me, that was a good thing.” Lifting my hand, I gently brush her hair behind her ear. “I was mean and spiteful when I left home—hated everything and everyone. None of you needed to witness that or be subjected to my hatred.” I cup her jaw with my palm and stroke the smooth skin of her cheek with my thumb. “Getting my ass kicked was exactly what I needed, though. I realized the downward spiral I was in and stopped being an ass … eventually. I did the meeting thing for a while to help with the alcohol addiction, but what I really found that worked was keeping myself busy. What’s that thing people always say about idle hands?”
“Idle hands are the devil’s playthings,” Jenna says, resting her cheek on my chest.
“That’s it,” I confirm. “I did a few odd jobs to make enough money to get the hell out of New Mexico, and after buying the first reliable truck I could afford, I left and never turned back.”
“And now you’re here,” she says with a sweet smile.
I give her a half grin. “Not quite. I drove north after that and stayed in Colorado for a while—ended up stumbling onto a job that I fell in love with and ultimately decided thatthatwas what I wanted to do with my life. Shortly after that I packed up and came home.”
We lay there in comfortable silence until Jenna lifts her head to look at me. “Do I get to know what this dream career is?”
“Yes.” I smile. “But not tonight. I promise soon, though.” A soft yet dramatic pout forms on Jenna’s lips, and I chuckle as I gently pinch her bottom lip with my fingers. “Now will you do something for me?”
Jenna raises an eyebrow at me with a skeptical look. “What?”
“Sleep,” I tellher,and pull her to me as I kiss the top of her head. “It’s been a very long,very eventfulday, and we both need to get some rest.”
As if confirming my statement, Jenna yawns and wiggles to get closer to me.
Kissing her once more against her blonde hair, I drift away shortly after her. And for the first time since I came home, I sleep soundly through the night.
